Machado Mashup or the ludic hipertext: "O alienista caçador de mutantes"

Abstract

This article aims to reflect on the adaptation of the short story "O alienista" (1882), by Machado de Assis, to the aesthetics of mashup literature, with the main object of analysis being the narrative O alienista caçador de mutantes (2010), by Natália Klein. In general terms, the mashup consists of appropriating a classic and canonical literary text to which elements from pop and digital culture are inserted, resulting in a hybrid text in which divergent cultures intertwine or as they are understood. The appropriation of Machado de Assis's text using this strategy raises questions about adaptation processes in general and a debate around essential notions in this field of research, such as originality and authorship. Our reading proposal considers that adapting "O alienista" for the mashup aesthetic can be understood as a practice of transtextuality of the "ludic regime of hypertext" formulated by Gérard Genette. We will also use Nicolas Bourriaud's concept of "post-production" to reflect on appropriation procedures in contemporary culture.